Indiana startup companies in life sciences, information technology and agricultural biosciences now have another source of early funding.
BioCrossroads, an Indianapolis-based group that promotes and invests in the sector, said Wednesday it has formed a $9 million seed fund, its third such fund since 2004.
Investors in the Indiana Seed Fund III include Eli Lilly and Co., Indiana University, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, University of Notre Dame and BCI, the for-profit affiliate of BioCrossroads, which manages the fund.
Already, the fund has made investments in two companies: $500,000 to Indianapolis-based Scioto Biosciences, which is developing a platform technology to deliver microbiome therapies; and $250,000 to Animated Dynamics, a Purdue University-based startup that is developing a diagnostic test for chemotherapy sensitivity.
Seed money is critical source of funding for early-stage companies that often don’t yet qualify for bank loans or venture capital. For young companies, it can make the difference in funding early research and testing products or technology.
“We continue to see promising translational science coming out of our universities as well as innovations from independent entrepreneurs,” said David Johnson, president and CEO of BioCrossroads.
Since 2004, BioCrossroads has raised nearly $25 million in seed funding, resulting in investments in 24 startups.
